


Wild Bill

by Ladytalon



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Thirst
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-10
Updated: 2010-06-10
Packaged: 2017-10-10 01:09:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/93570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladytalon/pseuds/Ladytalon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every great romance has to start somewhere, so why not in a scuzzy diner?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wild Bill

__________________________________

One good thing about having all the Potentials activated was that she finally got some time off to relax. Buffy Summers stretched leisurely and looked out over the balcony of the hotel she was staying at – Xander hadn't wanted her to go on vacation alone but she figured it was just fear of actually having to do housework talking. Of course, they all thought that she was somewhere in Europe.

After ordering room service and flipping through all 3,000 channels on the television, she was starting to get bored. "I'm supposed to revel in boredom now," she said to herself. Buffy was just about to turn the TV off when one of the news stories caught her attention, and she sat up to frown at the screen.

_"…police say that the unknown man bit the paramedic and escaped. The paramedic was hospitalized for severe blood loss due to a partially severed hand. Now here's Steve with the latest sports scores…"_

That was odd. Buffy frowned and changed the channel to another news program, which had more of the story. The longer she watched, the more certain she became about this being something she needed to take care of. "Well, I guess I'm not destined to stay bored for long," she sighed. "Wonderful." After checking out and getting directions to the Christian Children's Camp, Buffy finally pulled her car into a small diner on the outskirts of the small town she was headed towards.

A few cars were in the parking lot, and she shook her head as she walked in – it looked like a typical redneck café you saw in movies, despite still being in Southern California. Something about it reminded her of the time she'd spent as 'Anne'. A tired looking waitress handed her a menu and shuffled off to refill another man's cup of coffee; Buffy placed the laminated menu down on the table after choosing what to order and turned her attention towards the windows to watch the sun go down.

The bell atop the door chimed as a man came slouching in, and Buffy eyed him in disbelief – it looked like he'd escaped from a Wild West show right before Buffalo Bill tried to make him take a bath. What kind of town was this? The man took a seat in one of the booths, and Buffy wrinkled her nose as the wind of his passage brought the _smell_ of his passage. _Gross_. She glanced over her shoulder at him just in time to see him press a wad of napkins to his nose and tilt his head back as blood started leaking through them. _And I thought Golarth Demons were disgusting_. The man finally seemed to get his nosebleed under control by shoving two big hunks of napkin into each nostril, and Buffy shook her head again, appetite lost, as the waitress came back to take her order. "I'll just take a cup of coffee and some pie," she winced. "Just make sure it's not cherry, please."

She ate hurriedly, feeling as though Wild Bill was watching her – whenever she glanced back, he was always looking out the window, but the smell of him was starting to waft over on her side of the diner and she didn't particularly feel like being subjected to any more air pollution. After paying, Buffy left a tip and walked outside to her car – only to discover that her keys had somehow fallen out of her pocket. Groaning, she turned back to go inside and as soon as the door opened, she was greeted by the sight of Wild Bill trying to rip the waitress' arm off.

The waitress seemed to have gotten a second wind, by the way she was whaling on the guy with a cast iron frying pan in her other hand. "Dammit lady; stay _still_," Wild Bill bellowed. The other patrons seemed frozen to their seats, staring in shock at the events unfolding in the rear booth.

Buffy reached for the nearest heavy object and ripped one of the 50s style hanging lamps out of the wall on her rush to help the waitress. Wild Bill released the waitress as soon as he noticed her, and stood – rather, he tried to stand since he'd plainly forgotten that he was sitting in a booth. The tops of his thighs hit the table and he crashed back into the bench seat, giving Buffy plenty of time to lay the wall lamp alongside his head. He roared in pain and curled his fingers around the edge of the table, and Buffy's eyes widened when he simply tore it out of the floor so he had room to get up. "What are you, besides ten years past your expiration date?" He didn't look like any demon she'd ever seen.

"Huh?" He frowned as he rose to his feet, and Buffy swallowed nervously despite herself as he drew himself up to his full height. Wild Bill was humongous. "You askin' me on a date?"

She rolled her eyes. Big, smelly, _and_ stupid. What were the odds.

__________________________________

  



End file.
